Two Best 'Payesh' Recipe for Your Kid's Birthday

In India at large, milk is more than just a nutritional product. It has many religious as well as ceremonial significance associated with it. If looked carefully, you will find more than mere devotion there are depths of logic and spirituality associated with it.

The use of 'payesh' has been mentioned several times in Hindu philosophy. Right from the Ramayan to   birthdays, 'payesh' or rice pudding has been a major ingredient in all the celebration.

When you speak with your birthday party planner to arrange for payesh, make sure they do not confuse it with kheer. Kheer is also a form of payesh, which is widely prepared in North India and do not have any rice in it. Payesh for birthdays is specifically made of rice although the 'seyai' payesh is sometimes more loved by kids.

Kheer is mentioned in Ayurveda and has derived from the Sanksrit word kshirika (which means a dish prepared with milk). Payesh is a similar one that was basically used by Romans as a stomach coolant. In fact, studies show that it also worked as a detox diet. In Bengali households, this is one dish that is served to the child has as his or her first food.

With time, the importance of payesh has not reduced, rather the millennials are hanging on to their grandparent's recipe to make this loved sweet dish into their cook book.

Here are the two most popular recipes of Bengali payesh you can try to make your celebration special –

Chaler payesh  (Rice pudding)

Properly wash and soak the rice for an hour. Next, add substantial amount of milk in a heavy bottom pan and bring it to boiling point. Add bay leaf into milk while it is being boiled. As the milk keeps on boiling, slowly add the soaked rice into it and keep stirring constantly. This is vital to making payesh that you have to keep on stirring the milk to avoid any film on its surface.

The entire process should go on in a low to medium flame till rice gets cooked. You know the rice is cooked when the rice is firm but is soft without losing its shape. Keep mixing the rice and make sure it is not burnt in the bottom.

Generally it takes around half an hour for the milk to get thickened and the rice grains to become rightly soft. After this, add sugar, cashew nuts and raisins and keep the stir going for another 5-10 minutes. If you think the milk is getting too dried, you can add a bit more of it (even hot water can do) to keep up the consistency. Lastly add some crushed cardamom, before switching off the flame.

Leave it for a while to get it cooled and then serve.

Vermicelli payesh

Add ghee on a heavy bottom pan and heat it. As it melts, add the broken vermicelli and roast it gets to golden yellow to light brown. Remove the fried semai or vermicelli and keep aside. Use the same pan to pour the milk and bring to medium-high heat. To avoid milk sticking to the bottom of the pan, keep it stirring continuously. It should completely come to boil. Add the roasted vermicelli as the stirring continues.  You know it is done perfectly when each of these strands remain separate. Keep it cooking on low-medium heat and continue for atleast 30 mins. The vermicelli will elongate and the milk mixture will get to a creamy-like consistency. Add a pinch of salt, cashew, raisin, and the nolen gur (date palm jaggery) if you are doing it in winter. Mix this into the milk and vermicelli well and switch off the heat. Keep it covered for 5 minutes. You can sprinkle some pistachio before serving.

For any Bengali celebration, payesh is inevitable. Ask the event management companies near me to arrange for a caterer for your event that can make the finest payesh for your guests. Holydelights is one of the trusted names to assist you making your event seamless.

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Created on Jan 9th 2021 02:09. Viewed 109 times.

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